ITS THE NY CRIMINAL EXPORTING CRIME THAT IS THE PROBLEM
ITS THE CRIMINAL STUPID

     Is it the weak drug laws in other states that cause the drug problems in NY? Is it the weak liquor sales laws in other states that cause DUI and DWI in NY? I could bring a truck load of handguns and machine guns into NY or NY City and if no criminal decided to buy a gun then I would have no one to sell the guns to.
      The real problem is that NY and NY City is EXPORTING its criminals and crime into the other states. It is the NY and NY City Criminal who goes to other states and talks other people into breaking Federal and local laws by buying guns for the criminal that is the problem. It is the NY and NY City criminal who buys illegal guns brought in from other states that is the problem. It is NY and NY City that has passed the laws that disarm the average law abiding citizen and forces them to buy handguns from the black market often paying less for an illegal gun than what they would pay to get a license that only last 3 years in NY City. What Sheldon Silver, Mayor Bloomberg and the other anti-gun forces want is for all of the other states to pass gun control laws like NY City has but unlike NY and NY City, most states trust their citizens and respect their citizens rights including their Second Amendment rights.
     The anti-gun forces complain that it is the weak gun laws in other states that is causing the gun problems in NY. What else do you expect from people when they cannot enforce NY law in NY? In case they forgot, each state gets to set their own laws and all of the states have to follow Federal law. Under Federal law each gun sold by a dealer has to have Federal approval in the form the NICS check and the dealers have many other laws and regulations they have to follow like not selling guns to "straw purchasers."
     It is a unforgivable for Sheldon Silver, Mayor Bloomberg and his anti-gun supporters to try to use the death of police officers to try to pass gun control laws that will end gun sales in NY and further restrict, penalize and criminalize the legal, law abiding gun owners in NY. Silver, Bloomberg and their anti-gun friends will not be happy until all guns are banned in NY and all states across the nation are forced to adopt NY's laws.
     Just remember that in NY what would be a legal gun in almost every other state is illegal here.

• While many states require the person to be license to conceal carry, NY makes it illegal for anyone to even touch a handgun unless you first have a license with prior approval from the issuing authority that list each gun you own by make, model and serial number. That means that everyone in every other state who keeps a handgun in the home would have to go out and get a license that registers each gun they own. (People are not allowed to shoot handguns in handgun safety classes or hold a handgun when they go to the gun store or gun show to buy their first gun even after they have applied for a license.)
• Some places, like NY City do not allow the same gun to be on more than one license so if you have a 22 cal., your wife or children have to get their own if you are not present.
• Some NY counties limit the number of handgun you can own and one Judge only allows you to own 3 handguns. All perfectly legal according to NY courts.
• Forget about teaching your children to shoot. In NY your children have to wait until their 18 birthday to even hold your handgun and they have to be 21 to get a license. (Except most places will not take the application until they are 21 and because it normally takes 4 to 6 month or more to get a license, they could almost be 22 before they get to have their own gun. Even people in the military are not exempt!)
• A handgun license in most of the state can cost $140 or more and the only good thing is that they are good for a life time. Proposals to require a 5 year renewable license that the state charges $100 for and the counties can charge as much as they want, (how about $1,000 per gun per year,) have failed so far. NY City charges almost $500 for your first 3 year license and $340 for each renewal, ($140 for all long guns and many long guns are banned,) and those licenses are not even valid in the rest of the state.
• NY City has many other rules and regulations and people have lost their handgun license because they failed to get prior approval from the Pistol Department when they sold a handgun listed on their license to an FFL. Your application has to be typed and you have to go to show them your handgun and serial number when you buy your gun and renew your license.
• Many places place additional, NY Court approved "restrictions" on each license that tell you when, where and how you can carry, transport and have your handgun. Break the "restrictions" and you can loose your license and guns!

     Bloomingidoit Bloomberg has lots of money and gives lots of it to the Republicans. Don't think that he will not pressure the Republicans with it. Don't think that he will not turn on a dime and become a Democrat again, (that is what he is anyway, he only became a Republican to get elected.) He can not get re-elected again and has said that he does not want to seek any other office so he has nothing to loose.

Town of Blooming Grove Police Department
Chief Carl Schupp
2 Horton Rd.
Blooming Grove, NY 10914
chiefschupp@hvc.rr.com

Village of Chester Police Department
Acting Chief Peter Graziano
47 Main St.
Chester, NY 10918
(845) 469-4681

Middletown New York Police Department
Chief Matthew Byrne
2 James St.
Middletown, NY 10940
(845) 343-3151
lt.freeman@middletownpolice.com

Town of New Windsor Police Department
Chief Michael C. Biasotti
555 Union Ave
New Windsor, NY 12553
Phone: (845) 565-7000
mbiasotti@town.new-windsor.ny.us

Town of Tuxedo Police Department
Chief Daniel J. Carlin
PO Box 728
Tuxedo, NY 10987
845-351-5111
TuxedoPD@tuxedogov.org

SOME OF THE PRIZES FOR THIS YEAR 2006

WALL OF GUNS
OTHER PRIZES NOT SHOWN

Additional awards for the John Browning
Highest scoring shooter using a Browning design pistol in optic class is Rich B. for an additional $25.
Highest scoring shooter using a Browning design pistol in iron class is Mike C. for an additional $25.
Lowest scoring shooter in Bullseye is Mark Diana who gets a box of ammo.
Lowest scoring shooter in combat is John D. who gets a box of ammo
Lowest scoring shooter in plates is Lloyd J. who gets a box of ammo.
Lowest scoring shooter in the mover is Larry W. who gets a box of ammo.
     Ever since the John Browning match was designed (by Josh Siegel " and Dennis Serpi) back in 1997, we've had nothing but a great time. We've seen some really spectacular performances and we've seen some real classic bombs...ie..Lloyd's 0 and Mark's 15-0x. Anyway you look at it, it's the most fun one can have in 2 hours.
Every year we take reservations for this match over the phone and the competitors make their relays even if they're sliding in . At the bell (Todd.) This year they had a situation they just cannot understand...They had 5 shooters make reservations and not show, not call, not pay, and I guess generally not care about others were turned away because we honored their reservation. This situation caused the loss of $225 in shooters award money. Master Class will hereafter not honor reservations from those who failed to show, call or care about the other shooters. Shooters who are a bit dissatisfied with the payout can take it up with these guys. In the future, we will accept reservation only with total pre- payment. Period.
     Everyone did get full on all of the food that was available and everyone looks forward to the 2007 John Browning Combo Match

UPDATE: AFTER THE DINNER

     Each year the Calvary Baptist Church has a better and better event and this year it was the same. The food was just great and we had more than enough for everyone, some of us even had seconds. (That I might not have had if I had know in advance what wonderful deserts they were going to have.) A big thanks goes to those who cooked and worked to set everything out and supplied the food and to Eric C. Dammann, Associate Pastor, who planed everything and is a wonderful host.
    Robert A. Gatto of  Gatto's Taxidermy Studio from Middletown, (343-1079,) supplied some great mount to see. I got a big kick out of the Turkey being attacked. He also had Deer mounts a great Pheasant mount, bear, fish and other mounts.
     Charles Alsheimer gave a great presentation and many of the people who attended took the opportunity to purchase one of his great books, posters or pictures. Visit his web site to get an idea of what you missed, http://www.charliealsheimer.com/ca/default.htm. He had a wonderful slide show with great pictures that he has taken around the world. He gave a great explanation of the fall Deer rut and how to time it and what the sun, moon and other factors have to do with it. As a new Deer hunter it really explained what was going on. Charles was accompanied by his wife, Carla, (his son is at school,) and gave a real heart felt message that everyone really appreciated.
     If you missed this one make sure that you try to go to the next on in January of next year. It is a cheep night out, you get to hang out with other hunters, you get a great presentation that if you had to buy tickets to it at any other place would cost your $50 just for the food and another $35 to $50 for the presentation. It is worth the money just to see the mount.

UPDATE
Too late, all of the bills passed the
Assembly on 1/9/06

     All of the bills went through the Assembly in ONE DAY! Just shows you what we can expect if the anti-gun forces take over the NY Senate and we have an anti-gun Governor. Nothing that we can say makes it through the thick heads of the anti-gun forces. They have no data to support their proposals and do not know enough about guns to even understand that the laws that they pass will not impact the criminals very much if at all but will ban the very types of guns that they say they support; guns used in hunting and target shooting. They don't care if they put all of the gun stores out of business or if they ban hunting ammo.

CLICK HERE TO SEE SHELDON SILVER'S PRESS RELEASE

Click here to view a list of the police and sheriff's departments around the state that have signed a resolution in support of the 50-caliber ban and the armor-piercing ammunition ban, A2466 & S5504- AW BAN, and A2837 AMMO BAN. (Note that while the discription said (support of 50-caliber ban) but the list does not include the bill number.)

Gov has promises to keep
Pataki must get tough on Washington to make bullet DNA program work
by Bill Hammond
Originally published on December 27, 2005

     ALBANY - So Gov. Pataki and the Legislature are promising yet another crackdown on gun violence. Good for them. Let's hope they follow through with the new laws to stiffen penalties for gun trafficking and crimes against cops better than they did the last time.
     I'm referring to Pataki's big gun control bill of 2000, which cemented his reputation as a centrist Republican who cares more about fighting crime than pleasing the NRA. The resulting law held a lot of promise. But it turned out to be a political promise, easily made and soon forgotten.
     Pataki's Gun Control bills and his campaign speech at a NY Million Mom March event only cemented his reputation as a RINO, Republican In Name Only. After winning his first election by asking and receiving support from NY gun owners, Pataki kept the 2000 bill secret until he proposed it and never talked to any of his pro-gun supporters when the bill was written and the bill was passed in a special 3 day section and only after much arm twisting in the NY Senate. It is interesting to note that no one stood up to talk against the bill when it passed but several anti-gun Senators did talk, not in support of the bill but saying that "this is a good first step but we need to do more." The new Gun Control laws were passed because Pataki and several Senators thought that they need it to pass to get reelected. Even some sections of the bill that would have been supported by most NY gun owners, were written by the anti-gunners and contained language that made the bills unsupportable like the section of the law that required background check of all sales at gun shows as a recent Federal Court found. "A federal judge Friday tossed out a significant portion of New York state law regulating firearms sales at gun shows. U.S. District Judge Charles Siragusa determined that one of the statute's definition of a gun show is so broad that it "infringes on ... constitutionally protected rights to free speech, assembly and petition." (Don't worry anti-gunners. AG Spitzer has overruled the local AG's office and has chosen to appeal the ruling.)
     It will be easy for any new law that impacts the criminals to do better than the laws that were passed in 2000 because almost all of the laws passed in 2000 only impacted the lawabiding gun owner, not the criminal.
     The revolutionary feature of the 2000 law was a plan to collect ballistic "fingerprints" from every new handgun sold in New York State. Pataki predicted that this "gun DNA" would solve crimes just as effectively as the genetic kind does.
     Only the anti-gunners who came up with the incorrect "Gun DNA" phrase said that the program would work. Even anti-gun California had already done 2 studies that showed that the program would not work and was never adopted. Real DNA does not change over time with use and you can not take a file or some sandpaper and change your own DNA. No study was done and no hearings were held about this bill because everyone knew what the results would be. Maryland had a program in place at that time that had not produced results. Pataki did not even know how much money was needed for the program and the anti-gunners made sure that the bill set no guidelines as to how to judge the program if the program was a success or failure. No one ever projected how many guns would be connected to a crime over time and they still don't today. When the bill passed they talked about "3 years time to crime," now that the program has failed they are talking about "7 to 10 years time to crime." We would not be talking about CoBIS now if the first bill had contained "sunset" language and some measure of success like a .5% hit rate.
      Five years and several million dollars later, however, Pataki's pet project has resulted in just one useful lead and exactly zero prosecutions.
     I guess "several million dollars" does not sound as bad as 14.7 million dollars, (numbers that DCJS claim,) to 20 million dollars, (that is in the budget.) and it produced one solid hit but that hit is not an example of the success of the program but is an example of its failure. The "HIT", according to rumor, (when I talked to Rochester they don't know what I am talking about,) connected a shell casing from a "shots fired" call with no witness and no victim to a gun that was already in police custody that was owned by a licensed gun owner who had already lost his license and the statute of limitation had already run out. Otherwise it could have been a "success" assuming that the person would have admitted to shooting his gun and not just have admitted to driving through the area and throwing some empty shell casing that he had in his pocket out the window and confessing that he was guilty of littering.
     Forget about the money for a while. The NY State Police have about 15 people working on CoBIS. That means that they have spent over 124,800 man hours on the program in the 4 plus years they have been working. Can anyone say that if the time had been spent doing anything else they would have not solved more crimes? Even if they were a guard at the state capitol they would have found some stupid criminals trying to go through a check point with guns, drugs or something else illegal. I support the people who work for this program 110% but I just can't believe that when they joined the NY State Police that they thought that they would be working in a program that was as unsuccessful as CoBIS has been. Spend the money and time on Cold Case Murders, I am sure that one of the 15 people will be able to come up with a lead in one or two old murders in the next 4 years. Not solve a case, just a lead.
      The state police have photographed the unique markings on shells from 114,763 revolvers and pistols and put the images into a computer database. But their handiwork is mostly gathering dust. The database is so inconvenient to use that the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies rarely take the trouble.
     The database is not inconvenient to use any more than any other program that deals with some type of unique form of evidence. The database is used every time anyone wants to use it. Besides the CoBIS program, the NY State Police have the following labs: Biosciences - Breath Testing - Case Review - Drug Chemistry - Evidence Receiving - Firearms - Forensic ID and SAFIS - Forensic Imaging - Photography - Questioned Documents - Toxicology - Trace Evidence. Are they not being used even though they are inconvenient? Is it somehow not inconvenient to sent evidence to them on every crime except when the evidence is a shell casing? NYPD is a world unto themselves, they don't even belong to the Federal NIBIN program but they have their own IBIS system.
      No inquiries means no "hits." And no hits means no handcuffs.
      No, no "hits" means that the program is not working, like we said it would not work, and no "hits" means that the anti-gun proponents where wrong. Even those people who support the program agree that a CoBIS "Hit" probably can not be used in a trial. The most anyone ever expected a "Hit" to produce is a trail that they can follow to find usable evidence because of "chain of evidence" problems that CoBIS has. No NY Court has ever ruled that you can use a CoBIS "Hit" as probable cause for a search warrant.
      The situation gives ammunition to Second Amendment absolutists, who portray the program as a waste of time and money. But compiling gun DNA remains a good idea. It's up to the governor to make it work.
     What does this have to do with the Second Amendment? This is not gun control it is just a waste of money and manpower. The only reason the pro-gun groups talk about this program besides the waste is that it is another example of the gun-control groups passing a laws based on their "feeling" that it is a "good idea" and not based on science or reason. A program that has no guidelines, no goals, no success, an unlimited budget and no way to end it.
      The biggest problem is user-friendliness, or the lack of it. If cops could just Google a shell casing, they'd make it part of their routine - even if the chances of finding a match are slim. As it is, cops have to schlep the casings to the state police lab in Albany. No wonder the lab has processed only 467 direct inquiries from local police, a mere fraction of the thousands of gun investigations over the past four years.
     Hammond has been watching too much CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on TV. You can't "google" regular human DNA and you will never be able to be able to "google" CoBIS info but the State Police is working to make the program more user friendly to the 9 labs around the state that can process the information. Hammond chose to ignore the thousands of inquiries that the program has processed using NIBIN information that has supplied the two hits that the program has gotten. (Something he acknowledge when I talked to him.) That is like saying the only DWI arrest that you will consider when looking at how aggressive NY is in arresting people for DWI are those people who are arrest at DWI checkpoints but you choose not to including anyone who is arrested because the police see them driving drunk while patrolling for drunk drivers.
      "Nobody thought about the fact that law enforcement around the state is not likely to stick their evidence in an envelope and send it away to Albany," said Jackie Kuhls of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. "Law enforcement is also unlikely to get in a car and drive five hours."
     Jackie Kuhls does not know how the system works and Hammond does not understand enough about the program to know that this is not true. We have 7 places where an FFL can take a gun to be test fired and we have machines in 9 different police departments around the state that can process evidence that can be submitted to CoBIS. People send evidence via mail, UPS and FedX every day to all the other labs that the state has. The most a police department would have to do is take the evidence to the local NY State Police headquarters. How hard is that?
     Kuhls group, NYAGV, has had time to "think about it" by now yet they wrote and are pushing bills in the Assembly today that would require all shell casings to be sent to the State Police just like they wrongly say is happening now. The bill would require that all police send in all shell cases, even if the police have the gun and have the criminal. That will produce more "HITS" and be a total waste of manpower and money, (something that Hammond agreed with when I talked to him.) NYAGV, because of the promised success of the current program, also wants to expand the CoBIS program to include all shotguns and rifles, something that would expand the program 5 to 10 fold or more. Because long guns are only used in a small fraction of crimes and they are not licensed by owner, make, model and serial number like handguns, this new database would be an even bigger waste of time and money, (something that Hammond agreed with when I talked to him.) I know that it is hard to believe but Kuhls has testified that NYAGV supports laws to establish a national ballistics database. How many billions of dollars would that cost? (I can see the antis press release now, "This national system would work if we only give it 10 more years and get Canada, Mexico and all of the other countries in South America to adopt the system.")
      Despite the obstacles, the database recently scored its first useful match, which is still under investigation.
     How can Hammond count this match that was found using NIBIN information when he left out the thousands of inquiries that have been done using the NIBIN info? Notice that he said "useful match" because he knows that it is not the first "match" that CoBIS has had. By choosing to ignore the first match that CoBIS had, he does not have to explain away a "match" that is useful because it shows the failure of the program to produce results that the anti-gunners promised. As far as if this 2nd hit is a "useful match," we still don't know that. When they got the first match they thought that it would be "useful" then they found out that it was such a waste of time that Hammond does not talk about it or even acknowledge its existence.
      If the governor wants more hits, he needs a network of machines across the state capable of scanning shell casings and checking them against the database. A network like that already exists, set up by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to service their own database, which is limited to weapons used in previous crimes. But, thanks to the NRA, Congress prohibits linking these federal machines to any database of legal guns, including New York's.
     Again, we already have a "network of machines across the state capable of scanning shell casings." Earth to Hammond: It is just not the NRA's only 4 million members. It is the simple fact that most people in most states do not want any registry of guns and gun owners like we accept in NY. NY is the only state that registers not only the owner but each handgun by make, model and serial number. That specifically is illegal in many states according to state law. Most people who do not even belong to the NRA know that if the government knows who owns guns and what guns they own, at some point the government might want to pass a law and then come pick up the guns. Never happen you say. It has already happened in NY City, NJ and CA and they are getting ready to start picking up guns in San Francisco and Columbus Ohio. Remember New Orleans?.
      To keep his promise of 2000, Pataki must either persuade Washington to repeal this ridiculous rule, find a clever way around it or bite the bullet and pay for a separate state network.
     Again Hammond does not really know how this system works. NY has found a way around this law, and while it is a clever way that I think is not a technical violation of the law, it is a clear violation of the intent of the law. This "clever way" is what has produced the only two "hits" that the system has had. What does Hammond mean when he talks about a "separate state network?" The NY State Police already has their system of 5 machines and 9 other cities or counties have the machines to process the shell casings. This is where all of the NIBIN data is coming from. Westchester had 28 NIBIN type "HITS" back in 2003 using their IBIS equipment and an IBIS Data Acquisition Station (DAS) Remote Workstation cost over $250,000. Is Hammond saying that NY should spent another two to three million dollars to double the machines that we have and spend additional money to train the technician that are needed to use them and some how because we are using these new machines we will get "hits" that we can not get using the machines that are already in place and being used? Where are we going to put the machines, Westchester County, NY City, Rochester? They already have IBIS equipment so they don't need new equipment along with the other 6 or more locations that have the equipment. How many machines do you really need? CoBIS has 4 machines that process up to 30,000 shell cases a year so that is 7,500 shell cases per machine per year so in NY we already can process 67,500 shell cases a year using the equipment that we already have without using the NY State Police equipment. So NY can process more than 67,500 shell casings a year and Hammond thinks that we need more +$250,000 machines?
      Then maybe New York could match the success of Maryland's ballistic-imaging program, which scored its first conviction - for murder, no less - this year.
   Success, Success??? Where is the proof that the conviction depended on the MD-IBIS system? (UPDATE: Maryland’s Automated Ballistic Fingerprinting IBIS System Played No Role in Convicting a Murderer) Hammond fails to say that the Maryland State Police have produced a report that calls for the ending of the program,  "It is recommended that this Program be suspended, a repeal of the collection of cartridge cases from current law be enacted and the Laboratory Technicians associated with the Program be transferred to the DNA Database Unit.". Hammond told me that he left that little bit of information out because the NYAGV's Kuhls told him that the newly elected Maryland Governor was against the program. Could it just be that the Governor was against the program because the program is a failure? What about the 2+ years the previous "anti-gun" Governor who wrote the bill, pushed the bill and signed it into law using the law written by the anti-gunners? He had no more "success" than the current Governor has had. One of the reasons that the new Governor was elected was because he promised to look at the program and end it if it was not a success. Note that Kuhls does not say that the program is a success, just that the report was written under a Governor who can see that the program is a failure and wants to end it. Have we gotten to the point that only an anti-gun Governor can end a program that is a total failure and has wasted millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man hours only if the Governor supports the program. But, if any Governor ever decides that he can not support the program any more because it is a failure and a waste of time and money then the Governor can not end the program because he is against it?
      The Pataki administration "passed the bill and took credit for creating this, but then they didn't use it," Kuhls said. "To have it and not use it doesn't make any sense. Let's give it a real chance."
     The Pataki administration was sold a bad program by NYAGV and passed the law that NYAGV wrote and supported and has funded the program with as much money as it needs every year and put hard working people in charge of the program that support the program and work hard at making sure that it is used 100% of the time. The problem is that after all of the tens of millions of dollars have been spent and the hundreds of thousands of man hours have been wasted, NYAGV has to find some excuse as to why this program does not work and someone else to blame it on while at the same time they write more laws expanding the program and promote new laws using the same, according to them, failed system that CoBIS has now. Talk about having it both ways! A failure after 4 years, NYAGV needs to find a reason to keep this program going another 3 to 5 years, (or as many years as they can keep the program going,) because they hope that in that time they get what they really want and it will only take one or two hits for them to have what they are after.
     NYAGV's goal for this program really is that they hoped that it would show licensed NY handgun owners using their licensed guns in untraceable crimes or giving, lending or renting licensed handgun to criminals that use the guns in crimes. It will only take one crime for them to demand a"crack down" on licensed gun owners and for further restrictions on legal gun owners like renewable licenses and requiring that the police inspect every gun you own every year. That is always the real goal of NYAGV, to make all gun ownership as restricted as possible if not illegal. How people in the Press like Hammond can give any credibility to anything that the claim or say after they have been proven so wrong so many times is beyond me. The Maryland State Police report is to be ignored because the current Maryland Governor is suppose to be "pro-gun" even though the program, that was written by Maryland anti-gun groups and Governor, has been a failure but NYAGV who wrote and supported the current NY CoBIS program, that has produced almost no results, and supports the 10+ times expansion of the current CoBIS program and a national program on top of that and is against all gun ownership is always 100% credible and to be believed. All NYAGV needs to prove a point is one case or just say that something is a "good idea" while anyone supporting any pro-gun legislation or against laws that waste money or do not work and only punish legal gun owners can never have enough proof.
     Who is NYAGV? They have almost no membership and get most off their money from grants from anti-gun foundations and individuals. Look on their web site. They have almost no information about the laws or the programs that they are pushing. Their leaders are paid lobbyist who do this as a job and work for who ever will give them the money just like the X-Executive Director who, according to NYAGV, "has moved on to another non-profit" that was started with $125 million by none other than George Soros's Open Society Institute. Talk about a "Special interest group" if ever their was one.
     I just wish that Hammon would write an article about how unfair NY City's gun laws are, that the licenses cost too much for the common citizen, are too restrictive and have too much red tape and that a NY City license should be good throughout the state. New York City citizens should not be second class citizens. Or how about a story about NYSAGV? You could cover how it is a "Foundation" group with few real members and would not be able to operate without foundation money. How the people who run it do not own guns and do not know much about guns or gun safety. That while many of the pro-gun groups do support some gun control laws and push to have them passed, NYAGV always pushes for more gun control though many of the current laws and regulations do not have an impact on crime and NYAGV has never supported any change that would reduce any gun law or regulation

TRANSCRIPT OF SEPT. 2003 HEARING
Jackie Kuhls:
     "We would like to mention Resolution No. 584, which supports the BLAST Act, which is the Ballistics Law Assistance Safety Technology Act, which would establish a national ballistics database. New York is one of only two states with a ballistic imaging database, it's also in Maryland. In this database the manufacturers submit shell casings which are imaged and put into a database of new guns. Now, this database is most useful after a number of years because you have to allow time to expire since these are new guns, but ultimately the database is very useful for law enforcement, and in fact, we are supporting and measuring the State to expand the ballistic database to guns that do not readily eject shell casings, such as revolvers, as well as to long guns and to require images of the bullets and shell casings for top crime guns. We think this will maximize the help to law enforcement. And the BLAST Act that's pending in Congress would call for a national database, which will be particularly useful for New York City since the vast majority of guns come from out of state, so to have this new gun database running would be critical for law enforcement. "
 (Note that the current NY CoBIS system that started in 2001 does include all revolvers. I guess Jackie does not even know the law that her group helped write.)

By DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

     Once content to rule the city, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday vowed for the first time to go national - with an all-out effort to crack down on illegal gun sales.
      With the shooting deaths of two NYPD cops still weighing on the city - and with his confidence as a political player clearly rising - Bloomberg promised in his second term to fight the fight over illegal handguns in every forum that matters.
      "We will take our message to Albany, to Washington and to every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its borders," said Bloomberg.
      "And to those who distort our laws to aid and abet hardened criminals, know this," he said, punching the air for emphasis. "We will not rest until we secure all of the tools we need to protect New Yorkers from the scourge of illegal guns."
      Although Bloomberg has talked before about the need for stricter gun controls, yesterday was the first time he pledged to do battle in individual statehouses throughout the U.S.
      The new push underscored the growing sense of urgency in the city surrounding illegal firearms, which helped fuel a 3% increase in shooting victims last year.
      But it also reflected a mayor who, after four years of mostly learning the political ropes in New York, is confident enough to take his game to the national level, experts said.
      Gun control advocates said that as the Republican mayor of the country's largest city - and one of the GOP's most generous donors - Bloomberg could be uniquely positioned to influence the national gun control debate.
      "If he can make an alliance of governors and mayors - particularly Republican governors and mayors - it could greatly help us," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), an author of the Brady Bill, which requires background checks for handgun purchases. "We haven't had a major Republican voice speaking out for gun control in a long time."
      No matter what, with a Texas Republican in the White House and the National Rifle Association still among the biggest givers in Congress, it will be an uphill fight, Schumer added.
      NRA officials could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Bloomberg is already in the group's sights.
      When the mayor talked last month about the need to tighten gun laws after the shooting death of NYPD Officer Dillon Stewart - by a gun stolen in Florida - NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said it was "despicable" for Bloomberg to inject politics into the debate.
      Others said Bloomberg's plan to take the fight to states where most of New York's illegal guns originate - with Florida and Georgia being prime culprits - was right on.
      "He needs to go to Florida and say, 'You sell thousands of guns that end up on our streets every year, and one of them killed a police officer in New York. What are you going to do about that?'" said Jackie Kuhls, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

Mike's resolutions
      Mayor Bloomberg's second inaugural address yesterday included promises to:

• Launch a national effort to crack down on illegal guns.
• Speed up the rebuilding of lower Manhattan and create a "sustainable residential and commercial community" - a clear reference to his call for housing at Ground Zero.
• "Lock in and extend" reforms granting mayoral control over city schools, which the state can revoke after 2008.
• Continue to drive down crime and improve public safety, which he called "the foundation of our city's prosperity."
• Be "fiscally responsible." City government "can and must live within its means," he said.

BY JULIA LEVY - Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 3, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/25187

     Only hours after Mayor Bloomberg vowed in his second inaugural address to launch a national campaign against "illegal guns," the gun rights lobby is mobilizing to respond, with the influential National Rifle Association accusing the mayor of "intimidating law abiding Americans."
      On Sunday, as Mr. Bloomberg was sworn in for his second term, he invoked the names of police officers shot and killed in the line of duty as he announced a new, central focus of his administration - protecting New Yorkers from what he called "the scourge of illegal guns" by taking a message for tougher gun laws to "Albany, to Washington, and to every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its border." He called it the city's "most urgent challenge."
      The administration has yet to provide concrete details of its new approach, though it seems to involve asking other states to adopt and enforce New York-style laws requiring the registration and licensing of all handguns. But the ambiguity of the city's new gun agenda hasn't stopped Second Amendment proponents from beginning to fight back.
      "I think Mayor Bloomberg ought to focus on New York City, given that that's his area of responsibility. He has challenges over there because he has misplaced priorities," the director of public affairs at the National Rifle Association, Andrew Arulanandam, said. "Rather than focusing on enacting more gun control laws that only affect law abiding citizens, he should make sure that criminals pay the harshest penalties for breaking the law."
      When asked if the rifle association is intimidated by Mr. Bloomberg's newly aggressive posture, Mr. Arulanandam said: "We take every threat towards the rights of law abiding Americans seriously, but we think the mayor would be better served if he would put his financial muscle and the muscle of his office toward cracking down on criminals, not on intimidating law abiding Americans."
      Jacob Rieper, the legislative director for the rifle association's New York State affiliate, the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said he expects Mr. Bloomberg will meet substantial national opposition.
      "He just doesn't have the clout to carry this to other states. Other states outside of New York are getting rid of their gun control laws. New York City is the only one still trying to keep hope alive that criminals are going to pay attention to their laws," he said.
      Mr. Rieper added that Mr. Bloomberg seems to be saying "the entire United States is wrong and we're right," and said that attitude would not endear him to lawmakers outside of New York.
      A retired journalism professor who sells antique and collectable firearms at his antique shop in Montgomery, N.Y., Glenn Doty, said the last thing he wants as the father of two police officers are illegal guns on the streets. But, he said, that doesn't mean the Bloomberg administration should pursue a legislative remedy to gun violence.
      "A crackdown on the sale of illegal firearms is just fine with me. The problem that always seems to happen as soon as the politicians decide to crack down on illegal guns is they pass laws that harm people who own the guns legally," he said.
      While Mr. Doty said it seems New York gun laws are already harsh enough, he said he would support an effort to go after straw purchasers - those who buy guns in states with more relaxed gun laws and resell them in New York. He also said he would support other states adopting New York's standard that requires people buying guns at gun shows to undergo the same criminal background checks required for sales at federally licensed gun stores.
      Still, he said, it seems that a lot of progress could be accomplished though stricter federal monitoring of gun sales and enforcing current regulations rather than enacting new laws.
      A professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University, Gary Kleck, dismissed Mr. Bloomberg's new agenda and said, "Politically, it's dead in the water."
      "The trend in recent years is the exact opposite direction," he said. "Republicans basically like more punishment for criminals, so the only type of gun control they favor is heavier penalties for crimes with guns or even heavier penalties for carrying illegal guns."
      In recent years Congress has passed laws forbidding lawsuits against those who manufacture guns and making it harder to gain access to gun sales data. The Bloomberg administration says the data privacy law makes it harder for law enforcement officials to trace guns for crime prevention purposes.
      Mr. Kleck, who is a nationally renowned authority on the study of guns, said, "The underlying flaw in the reasoning is its supply-side orientation. It's trying to reduce gun violence by reducing the supply of guns."
      Mr. Kleck said a "demand-side strategy" characterized by going after criminals and making it risky to own a gun would be a more effective approach.
      Despite early signs that Mr. Bloomberg's newly announced goal will face resistance, his effort is being greeted with support from gun control advocates.
      "What the mayor's called for is exactly what we've been trying to highlight for a number of years," the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Jackie Kuhls, said. "I think that he is in a very good position to influence national lawmakers and certainly current national office holders. He's contributed personally to the campaigns of some of these people. Also, he's the mayor of one of the biggest cities and the city that's most affected by illegal guns from other states."
      Ms. Kuhls added that Mr. Bloomberg's speech Sunday should serve as a "wake-up call" to states that supply illegal guns to New York.
      City Council Member David Yassky, who helped enact the gun control law known as the Brady Bill when he was working as an aide to then Rep. Charles Schumer, said he is "excited" about the new Bloomberg agenda
    Mr. Yassky said toughening gun laws nationally would not be easy, but he said, "I think he's in a good position to get real results. Really what we need is for Congress to change course. They've been loosening restrictions on the gun industry. They need to tighten restrictions."
      He said as a "prominent Republican" the mayor might be able to "hold others in his party accountable for their wrong decisions on guns."
      Mr. Yassky said the mayor should articulate his goals publicly and also actively publicize Police Department gun-tracing data so that everyone can better understand the impact of gun violence.
      "Americans are good-hearted people," he said. "If they can be made to understand that their laws are creating a serious gun problem in New York City, I think they'll take that seriously."
      The chief trial lawyer representing New York City in a lawsuit against gun manufacturers, Michael S. Elkin of Thelen Reid & Priest, said, "It's really important for individual municipalities to play a significant role. The national agenda is really influenced by the National Rifle Association, and they have significant hold or control over both the executive branch and members of Congress."
      Mr. Elkin said he thinks legislative reform will be left largely to local and state governments.
      While he said the rifle association would provide a serious challenge to the mayor's initiative, he said, "There is ample room for other local municipalities and state governments to take proactive steps to reduce the illegal firearm sales."
      According to police statistics, there were 3,303 gun-related arrests last year, up from 2,894 in 2004. Shooting incidents also rose to 1,534 in 2005 from 1,480 in 2004. There were 540 homicides in New York City last year, police said, the lowest total since 1963.

Police Commissioner Kelly Says Gun Crimes Need To Be A Priority
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE ON NY1

January 02, 2006
      Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Sunday that he wants the nation to follow Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lead on tougher gun control laws.
      He says the mayor's pledge to push the issue could end up having a big effect on the city.
      "We have the toughest gun laws in the country right here in New York City, and I think they're eminently reasonable," said Kelly. "But, that's not the case in the rest of the country; about 90 percent of the guns used in crimes here come from out of state. So the mayor, I think, has laid down a marker and that he's willing to fight this fight not only in Albany, but in Washington. I think that's good news for all New Yorkers." ...

Criminal, gun control two different things
Times Union, December 31, 2005

     The governor's initiatives to rid our streets of illegal guns and harshly punish those who use guns in the commission of a crime are worthy of praise. These are common sense approaches to reducing crime. The National Rifle Association and its state affiliates have been pushing for this type of legislation for a long time. However, I disagree with the way these initiatives are being portrayed since they are not about "gun control," but are about "criminal control."
      First, get the illegal guns away from the criminals. Second, encourage and support the right of law-abiding citizens to own and carry concealed handguns for personal protection. New York needs to follow the lead of almost 40 other states in the nation that have "shall issue" laws that allow unrestricted concealed handguns carry.
      These states have overwhelmingly seen a reduction in violent crime following the passage of such laws. Required background checks, FBI finger printing, character references and training have prevented the "Wild West" scenarios that many had envisioned with civilians carrying concealed weapons.
      Most gun owners strongly support police efforts to rid the streets of illegal guns and to harshly punish those who use guns in committing crimes. At the same time, many people recognize the important and significant role that private gun ownership plays in the protection of law-abiding citizens.
      According to a study by Gary Kleck, a criminology professor at Florida State University, legal gun owners use a gun to protect themselves, family or property approximately 2.4 million times a year. This number is staggering. Unfortunately, the media neglect to report that guns save lives, and on a very significant scale each year. Police agencies and politicians alike have come to acknowledge the important role armed citizens play in the prevention of violent crime.
      So, yes, take the guns out of the hands of criminals. But don't deny or restrict the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to carry and use firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones.
      NORBERT QUENZER, Delmar

RTC letter in Buffalo News
Filed under: General, Politics — Jacob @ 10:38 am
From: Gun Legislation & Politics in New York

     The Buffalo News ran my letter today under the heading “State should permit citizens to carry concealed handguns.”

     I would like to comment on the Dec. 28 News editorial, “Credible action in Albany.” If the governor and State Legislature were serious about public safety, they would abolish the Sullivan Act and bring New York law in line with other states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, which allow ordinary people to carry a concealed handgun so they can protect themselves. The Wisconsin Legislature recently passed a bill with a veto-proof 2-1 majority that will soon make it the 39th state with such a law.
      Meanwhile, legislators in Albany continue to defy common sense by thinking that violent thugs with felony rap sheets a mile long will obey new tougher laws against “illegal” guns. Other states don’t export their guns to us. New York imports thugs from other states, who know liberals are working hard to perpetuate an environment where they can ply their trade with little fear of arrest and prosecution or of armed citizens exercising their right of self-defense.

The Times Herald-Record printed my letter to the editor today under the heading “Right-to-carry law”.

With regard to your op-ed “Pataki gun plan bodes well for Newburgh,” if the governor and Legislature were serious, they would abolish the Sullivan Act and bring New York law in line with other states with right-to-carry concealed handgun laws so ordinary people can defend themselves.
      The Wisconsin legislature passed a bill with a veto-proof 2-1 majority that will soon make it the 39th state with just such a law. Meanwhile, liberals in Albany continue to defy common sense by thinking that violent thugs with felony rap sheets a mile long will obey new tougher laws against “illegal” guns in the state.
      Other states don’t export their guns to us. New York imports thugs from other states who know liberals are working hard to perpetuate an environment where they can ply their trade with little fear of arrest and prosecution or of an armed citizen exercising their right of self-defense.
      I sent similar letters to several papers and the Buffalo News called yesterday to verify it so I assume they will run it.